Gas cell for rigid airships



July 10, 1928;

H. R.-LIEBERT ET AL GAS CELL FOR RIGID AIRSHIP S Filed Sept. 13, 1927 ffirmapf. Zzberii Buyer) SC/208779];

attozwm Patented July 10, 1928.

. NITEIDz stares 1,676,832 ff M We HERMAN RICHARD LIEIBEBT AND Enema scHoET'rEL, or AKRON, am,- as'sifenoits r0 eoobrnnnznrrntm:oonroRAmoN, or AKn oN', oHIo; A cbnr'ofiarion or'rrziia- I "WARE.

CELL FOR'BIGI' D 'AIZR SHIYS.

Our invention relates to dirigible airship"sand it has particular relation toa rigid a1rship having a plurality of gas-inflated. cells,

therein. i i

n One object ofour invention is to a novel-arrangement of; gas cells peculiarly adapted to'be employed inrigid airships.

Another object of our invention is to; provide a novel arrangement of -gas cells which is adaptedv to maintain the proper trim of an airship and to facilitate the steering and stabilization thereof.

.R'gid airsh'ps having transversely disposed nherentlyrigid mam rings are, prol5 vided with relatively Slack bulkheads secured circuinferentially within the main rings.

The bulkheads are installedin a slack con dition in order to avoid Imposing in uriousv radial forces upon the 1 main-- rings; when the bulkheads are bulged; axially of the ringsby the action of the-gas 'thereagainst-a Vvhen' one of two adj acent gjas cells which impinges against the bulkhead becomes empty, the

pressure against the latter is Ftlid'lZSdIlQXlmIImr -Under normal operating conditions,='the f gas cellstofairship are not: generally entirely inflated. If the airship; assumes an mclined. position inflight, the gases press against the bulkheadsand move longitudin'ally of the airship until-the bulkheads be come taut. Th-ismovement of the gas shifts the center of buoyancy and adversely in-- a r fliiences-the trim'of' the airship and must becounter-balanced by the elevators. Y a Especially in gusty weather such conditionsre-:

quire great activity'on' the pait' ofthe heln'isman, because. the tendency of the airship P to 1 become unstable is"t hen more pronounced.-

By. employing; gases under difierentpressures inthe-ad aeent gas cells according 'toour invention I the. disadvantages resulting; from the arrangement above described will be" obviated;

For a better understanding of;our, inven- 45, tion, reference may now be had to the accompanying? drawings forming a p art" of this specification, of which '1 ID Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an airship provided with gas cells arranged and inflated according to our invention; and

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line IIII of Fig. 1. In practicing our invention, we provide an airship hull 10 having transversely dis- .55 posed rigid main rings 11 therein, which are provided with relatively slack flexible bulkheads 12, 1 3, M,15"andTG'cOnnected about the inner circumferential porti'ons'of the several rings. A plurality of eel-191 8,

which shall vbe referred to-as high-i pressuregas cells, and a plurality of: cells 19' which shall be referred to as low pressure gas cells are disposed within the. spaces between the bulkheads .The bulkheads: l2 and 18*are connected by means ofiai centrally disposedcable of suitable tying: member "22 which" en tends throi'igh the-gascells 1 9. Likewise,

a similar tying member" 23 connects the bu lka heads 14 and1'5. If desirableaat he' connectmg members 22qand= 23 may beonaitte'd.

Each cell 18 is normally in-flated with-gas 24: until the opposite walls-thereof bul-geoiitwardly toward! the respective-low pressure gas 1 cells 19, while: the latter: cellsare only pariallyinflated with gas: 25. I A- I material difference in; gas .pres'slires the cells 18' tracted,; thecrel ative pressures within the gas cells l8- and' '19 will have been: :cham gedu Also, while the airship is maneuver-l ng variig' v ous changes in the gas "pressu-resrm-ay; occur, whichcan-not be compensated by the adjust-"- ment of the safety 'valvesg'26'. -Aceordingly,

overflow .valves127i3- arer-provided which p'ermit thev gas to: be transferred frorn' tl re come pletely inflated high pressure:cells'18'=1ao tl re partially inflated low pressure cells-19'. preventsthe 'ga-s frornescapin g as ,longuasl the adjacent low pressure? gas bags are: not, fully inflated. Likewise; a pum 28,- having; conduit I connections 29 and 30 leading. into the cell-s-1 8-and 19- respe'ct-ivelyhis' employed for conveying gas from the. partially inflate-d1 cells 19 into the, high "pressu re' cells rate replace such gas asmay have escaped-dare: maneuvering operations-i "If: desirable, the -.l-ower portion of the'ieel'l's 18 may be provided with spaces 32 containing fuel gas which is directed to an airship motor (not shown) through a pipe connection 33. Separate gas cells, of course, could be disposed within thespace s 32 or such gas cells could be enclosed within the cells 18. In the event fuel gas is employed, the volume of that is consumedby the motors must be replaced by pumping gas from the partially inflated cells '19 in order constantly to maintain the proper relativelyhigh pressure ,Wltllln the cells 18.

In some instances, gas may be: entirely eX- hausted by accident or otherwise from one "or more of the cells 18, thus creating anabnormal condition. Then the bulkheads enclosing'tlie exhausted cell become slack, but they are maintained in substantially their proper position by the connections 22 and 23; From the foregoing description it Will be apparent that We have devised a novel arrangement of gas cells Which-insuresproper Zmaneuveringof an airship under all conditions which involve changes in the gas pressures. I 1 V 7 e Although We have illustrated but one form which our invention may assume and de-- scribed in detail but a single. application thereof, it Will be apparent to those skilled in the art-that it is not -so limited but that various minor modifications and, changes may be made therein Without departing from the spirit of the invention or from of the appended claims.

' What We claim is: p I

'1'. In an airship having inherently rigid main rings, a gas cell having gas under pressure therein, and a-gas cell disposed contiguously on each side of thefirst-mentioned gas cell, andhaving gas therein under materially lower pressure than the gas in the first-memtioned gas cell. I v

2. In an: airship having inherently rigid I main rings, a gas cell having gas underp'ressure therein, and a gascell disposed contiguously on eachside o f'the first-mentioned gas cell, and having gas therein under materially lower pressure than'the gas in the first-men-- tioned gas cell and bulkheads connected cir cumferentially within the main rings and separating therespective' gas cells.

"3'. In an airship having inherently rigid main rings, a gas 'cell-havmg gas'therein under relatively low pressure,rand a gas cell on each side of thefirst-mentioned gas'cellj having gas therein under relatively higher pressure, and bulkheads connected circun1-- ferentially Within the main rings andseparating the respective gas cells.

In an airship having inherently rigid main rings, a gas cell having gas under rela-' tively lOW pressure therein, a gas cell disposed'contiguously on each side of the firstmentioned gas cell, and having gas therein under relatively high pressure, bulkheads the scope separating the gas cells and a connection extending through the first-mentioned gas cell and-secured to'the bulkheads on opposite sides thereof.

5. In an airshipha ving. inner-an ri id" main rings disposed transversely thereof, a series of gas. cells Within the airship, gas under relatively high pressure entirely inflating said gas cells','a second series of gas cells, gas under relatively low pressure partially inflating the second-series of gas cells,

the cells of the tWo series'being arranged ali ternately, and bulkheadsconnected circum-' ferentially Within the main rings and separating the adjacent gas cells; t

6; Injan airship having a hull' construction, spaced gas cells having gas therein under relatively high pressure,'gas cells having gas therein under relatively low pressure disposed between the'spaced' gas cells and meansconnecting adjacent gas cells for automatically supplying gas from the cells having gas under relatively low pressure'to the cells havlng gas underrelatively high pressure, When a material changein the gas pressure in the last-mentioned cells occurs. a 7. In an airship havlng a hull construction,a plurality of spaced gas cells having gas thereln underrelatively high pressure, i gas cells having gas therein-under relatively low pressure disposed betvveen' the spaced gas cells, means connecting'adjac ent gas cells for supplying gas from the cells having gas,

under relatively low pressure to the cells having gas under relatively high pressure,

and an overflow valve connectingadjacent cells and operable automatically to convey gas from the cells having 'gas' therein under relatively high pressure to the-cells having gas therein under relatively low pressure When the gas pressure in' the first-mentioned cells increases a predetermined degree 8. In an airship having inherently rigid main rings therein, a gas cell having gas V signed our names.

HERMAN RICHARD LIEBE T. UeENso o rr I 

